I'm a late starter. Just turned 31, and decided that day that I would finally pick up the guitar. Being obsessed with rock and metal and blues since I was a kid, musics been a real passion all my life. So I thought I would ask for some help if possible..some advice cos I need to finally do this.

Before I pursue proper lessons what kind of plan or schedule would you guys recommend? I've spent time learning chords, practicing changing and practicing some scales, and so far that's all I do, just round and round. Every day just CAGED and other chords, and scales at different starting points. Where would you guys recommend going next?

For eg: where would you suggest aiming for after..a week...month...six months...etc. What would a typical hour of practice look like for you? I just want to compare contrast and discuss tiups.

I'd love to hear especially from any guys who picked up guitar relatively 'late' in life. Thank you!

A teacher will help a lot at that stage. If you can not afford it (time or money) a book is a relatively good substitute. I mean, books by good teachers usually have the plan you are asking for, with goals and a structured path to them.

Learning scales and chords is Ok but music is about songs. Try to learn some songs, too.

On practice scheduling, I remember some old threads with some guidelines. Maybe there are also some lessons on the main site.

It's as if I wrote this post myself, but I'm 50 and a little behind you in what I can do. I practice CAGED everyday, as well as a few drip and the beginnings of a few songs. What I am doing now is using the video game RockSmith '14 to practice with. It is much more then a video game, it does a great job on drills, and teaching, along with the fun aspects of it.

I want to start by saying there is no such thing as starting late. When I started playing guitar many of my friends had years ahead of me and it was kind of discouraging, but if you practice everyday it won't be long before you will be way ahead of them . Not that its a big competition or anything.

Since you said you know some scales I suggest learning to use them in a musical context. Learn songs that are based around those scales, or try improvising over songs based around those scales.

Just learning songs in general is a great way to get excited about playing guitar. Try learning some basic songs by ear. This is something I wish I did more of. If you learn songs by ear or guitar solos by ear you will be able to play with intention. What I mean by that is, you will be able to know what something is going to sound like before you play it, so when improvising you will have more control over the sound you are going for.

Thats a lot for now, I would like to know how it goes, keep us posted.

This may sound like strange advice but take some lessons in a totally different music genre. I tried Jazz and Progressive Jazz theory lessons and stuff just freakin burst open/out, idea wise.
It also introduced me to stuff like Al DiMeola, Allan Holdsworth, to more contemporary as Dream Theater, Nightwish, Coheed & Cambria.
I'd recommend taking lessons on interval theory, "pitch axis" and of course scales/modes and ALWAYS practice with a metronome, ALWAYS !!!